The Associate Director of Strategy and Operations at the Career Development Center (CDC) at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) develops and directs strategic initiatives related to engaging a diverse student body in a dynamic, relevant, and iterative career development process. Given the range of backgrounds and experiences of the NYUAD student body, the Associate Director seeks to improve access for all students, and lower barriers to access for students unfamiliar with career support and exploration. With this aim in mind, the Associate Director oversees the storytelling and communications efforts of the office, as well as the assessment and program evaluation of existing initiatives. They collaborate with other team members to seed inclusivity into existing programs, and create access points for underrepresented subgroups.
As a member of the career advising team, the Associate Director provides career advising to undergraduate students. In a generalist capacity, he/she will support students with career related queries including global job/internship search, career exploration, interviewing and networking, as well as resume/CV and cover letter reviews. In a more specialist capacity, he/she will provide more in-depth feedback about careers, building partnerships with local and global organizations and orienting students to career possibilities and networks.
With an eye for engaging every student, the Associate Director will oversee, in close collaboration with the Director, the assessment and communication functions of the CDC, harnessing these functions to build a cohesive and clear strategy for the office. He/she co-leads the assessment efforts of the team, including goals/mission/vision, supervising the Research and Special Projects Coordinator, ensuring that the data collected about our studentsinterests and placements driven data-based decisions. He/she is responsible for orchestrating the delivery of the Life Beyond Saadiyat report, curated from the CDC first destination survey. He/she also supports the storytelling and communications efforts of the office, amplifying narratives that support a broad definition of success, and directly supervising the communications coordinator. In tandem with assessment and communications efforts, they will proactively consider how technology can be utilized to reach a broader audience in a meaningful way.
Programmatically, the Associate Director oversees the on-campus student employment portfolio, ensuring a strong system for work experience on campus, equitable access to opportunities, and strong feedback mechanisms. Also on-campus, he/she will spearhead the CDC’s partnership network with on-campus stakeholders, ensuring that all parts of the NYUAD ecosystem are aligned about supporting student futures. The Associate Director of Strategy & Operations reports to the Director of the Career Development Center. As a key member of the leadership team, the Associate Director oversees the cross functional areas of communications and assessment for the Center. A storyteller of the full-cycle student experience, the Associate Director leads the implementation of a communications strategy to amplify the programs, initiatives, and outcomes of the Career Development Center across the campus community and with external stakeholders. The Associate Director also oversees the on-campus student employment portfolio, ensuring a strong system for work experience on campus, equitable access to opportunities, and strong feedback mechanisms.
A driven self-starter, the Associate Director is a thought partner and changemaker across functional teams of the Center, utilizing and acting on assessment data to ensure the Center is maximizing its service delivery contributing to successful post-graduate outcomes for students. An advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the Associate Director empowers campus partners and the career ecosystem with relevant and timely outcomes data to advance the mission of the Career Development Center and NYU Abu Dhabi.
Key Responsibilities:
As a key member of the Career Development Center’s Leadership team - provides a strong vision for assessment to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of programs and initiatives through collaborating across functional teams of the Career Development Center for data driven decision-making
Utilizes data to continuously innovate, assess effectiveness, make improvements to future events and the service delivery and student impact of the Career Development Center
Proactively equips campus partners (Alumni Relations, Admissions, Academics, Student Affairs, and others) with relevant assessment and outcomes data to further advance the mission of the NYUAD
An advocate of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts - leverages assessment and outcomes data to ensure the Career Development Center is maximizing student success/outcomes and service delivery for our high priority populations (first-generation, Student of Determination, etc.)
Leverages assessment and outcomes data across functional teams to inform the direction of communications, marketing, and promotional initiatives of the Career Development Center
Collaborate with Institutional Research and lead assessment-based research projects and initiatives, translating findings into actionable tasks to advance career development and post-graduation success
Develops and drives the strategic marketing, branding, outreach, and communication strategy of the Career Development Center across the campus community and with external stakeholders
Coordinates with External Relations for consistent messaging standardized to both internal and external stakeholders
Oversees the coordination and successful execution of strategic event planning for all major Career Development Center events fostering collaboration across functional teams
Provides leadership of the Career Development Center’s social media presence and strategy
Provides leadership and oversight regarding key messaging, media strategy, execution, and assessment, and planning for events
Leveraging various media platforms - leads the strategic dissemination of the Career Development Center’s initiatives, stories, and successes with the campus community, prospective students and families, employers, parents, donors, alumni, and other stakeholders
Collaborates with the Leadership Team to equip academic deans, chairs, faculty, staff, and other campus partners with timely and relevant information to increase student engagement with career related programs and initiatives
Oversee the on-campus student employment portfolio, inclusive of policies, procedures, and systems to ensure work access and equity, as well as strong supervision and feedback loops
Spearhead the CDC’s partnerships with student organizations, connecting them with other CDC staff as appropriate. S/he also consults and works closely with colleagues in a variety of campus offices to coordinate outreach efforts and to enhance skill development opportunities in existing programs
Represent the CDC at local, regional, national and international events and professional conferences, as needed
Advise students to insure that they receive personal attention, sharing specific industry knowledge in fields of high interest to NYUAD students
Conduct one-on-one student advising appointments tailored to meet student needs; administer selfassessment inventories
Advise on long and short term career strategy, job search strategy, interview skills, resume/CV development, offer decisions, and other topics
Develop, manage and implement select career events, workshops and programs to educate students on all aspects of the job search process and to help students secure internships and graduate jobs with target employers
Provide strategic leadership and supervision of two cross-functional teams which include the Communications/Marketing and Assessment areas of the Career Development Center while creating collaborative synergy with members of these teams both internally and across the campus community
Foster an inclusive, entrepreneurial, and impact driven culture with a focus on empowering team members towards a shared vision of maximizing student success and outcomes
Other divisional duties as assigned
Required Education:
Masters Degree in Counceling, Higher Education, Psychology, Education or related field
Required Experience:
7+ years of progressive leadership experience in career development counseling, student affairs, human resource or an equivilant comination of education and experience
Expertise in career development counseling/coaching, including workshop delivery, walk-in advising, small groupfacilitation and one-on-one advising sessions
Expertise in global job and internship search techniques; familiarity with relevant tools and resources
Expertise in effectively serving as a liaison with university faculty, related professionals and students
Ability to work closely with colleagues in a variety of campus offices to coordinate outreach efforts and to enhance skill development opportunities in student leadership activities, internship/work experience opportunities, etc.
Prefered Experience:
Broad understanding of occupations, particularly those that require professional or graduate education
Ability to stay current on local, regional, and international trends, educating students, faculty and staff on industry and recruitment trends as necessary
Ability to advise international and domestic students with regard to career exploration, planning and developmenttopics
Ability to assess student on her/his current level of preparation for competitive opportunities while developing plans to overcome deficiencies in the application process
Ability to effectively critique CVs, cover letters and personal statements/application essays
Expertise in utilizing Handshake platform preferred
International travel may be required
Occasional weekend and weekly evening coverage
Experience working in an international higher education setting is highly desired
Other Information
About NYUAD
NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai, form the backbone of NYU’s global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity. This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.
